Logical Reasoning

PT135 · S2 · Q18 Historian: In rebuttal of my claim

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

  • Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one

  • Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step

  • 81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Start practicing free

Historian: In rebuttal of my claim that West influenced Stuart, some people point out that West's work is mentioned only once in Stuart's diaries.

Facts

Some say West didn’t really influence Stuart, since West’s work is only mentioned once in Stuart’s diaries. However, Stuart’s diaries mention meeting with West several times, and Stuart’s close friend studied under West. Also, Stuart’s work uses West’s terminology which nobody else at that time was using.

Evaluation

The author is definitely defending her idea that West influenced Stuart. While we can’t prove it, it seems pretty supportable based on the three ideas she presented.

Goal

Some safely worded claim that sounds like maybe West did have an influence on Stuart.

18.

Which one of the following propositions is most supported by the historian's statements, if those statements are true?

  1. Stuart's discussions with Abella were

    Out Of Scope: “discussions with Abella”

    Tempting. It never said that Stuart had any discussions with Abella about West, just that Stuart and Abella were good friends and that Abella studied under West. It definitely seems like the author brought up Stuart’s friendship with Abella in service of her larger point that West influenced Stuart. But the author may have just been showing a way that Stuart would be aware of West. If my friend is taking a class from a certain professor, that may inspire me to look up that professor’s work, even if I never discuss that work with my friend. Ultimately, I would be okay picking this answer if D weren’t there.

    16% picked this

  2. It is more likely that

    Unsupported Comparison

    The author is certainly not drifting towards this conclusion. She’s trying to support her original idea that West influenced Stuart.

    3% picked this

  3. Stuart's contemporaries were not influenced

    Too Strong: "not influenced"

    We can’t support a strong idea about all of Stuart’s contemporaries. All we know about them is that they did not use West’s terminology. But it’s a big stretch to go from “didn’t use West’s terminology” to “were not at all influenced by West”.

    5% picked this

  4. Correct

    Stuart's work was not entirely

    Why this is right

    This is just a very safe way of reiterating the Historian’s original claim. We can support this pretty directly by pointing to the last sentence. If Stuart was using West’s terminology (at a time when it wasn’t otherwise used), then it looks like Stuart was at least partially influenced by West.

    Skill tested: Most Supported · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    75% picked this

  5. Because of Stuart's influence on

    Out Of Scope

    Out Of Scope: “Stuart’s influence on other people” We never hear anything about Stuart influencing other people, so we would be totally speculating to think that Stuart ended up popularizing West’s terminology.

    1% picked this

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill
LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free